Process of producing sugar-bearing bodies.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HILLABID BENJAMIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING SUGAR-BEARING BODIES.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE Hrnmnn BEN- Jam, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Sugar-Bearing Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process of treating sugar bearing bodies such as the sugar cane, sorghum and beet root, to brin such bodies into a condition whereby they may be transported over long distances and stored for considerable periods, without appreciable loss of their sugar constituents. Thus I am able to treat sugar cane 0r sorghum upon the plantation, and beet-roots upon the farm, and then transport these bodies long distances to countries having difierent climatic conditions, store them, and then treat them, as may be convenient in the opera tion of the factory. For instance, I may treat sugar cane in Cuba, transport it to America, and separate the sugar from the cane in America; or I may treat beet'root on the farm, then convey the treated beet-root to the conversion factories, store the body for a long period of time, and separate the sugar from the beet-root there, thus avoiding the necesity of freezing the beets and the usual immediate defecation which is necessary, owing to the rapid destruction of the frozen beets by fermentation.

To carry my invention into effect I may proceed as follows:

Example I: Sugar cane, as it is harvested, is sent through a machine and the cane cut into small pieces of about one-half inch in length. As the cane is cut, the juice, which is separated, is allowed to flow into a pan containing a body of phosphate of lime. The body of cut cane as it leaves the out ting machine, is carried to a mixing tank, into which is simultaneously introduced a mixture of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth, and from time to time, the sugar which is absorbed by the phosphate of lime in the pans under the cuttin machine The percentage of phosphate of i e and diato' maceous earth Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Application filed May 21, 1912. Serial No. 698,685.

which is carried by the cane. Under ordinary conditions I introduce a mass of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth which represents 25% of the weight of the cane, and in which mass the phosphate of lime represents 7 5% and diatomaceous earth 25%. I do not however, limit myself in any wise to the proportion of the introduced mass relative to the weight of the cane or the percentage of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth in the introduced mass, for as before stated, the proportions vary in accordance with the sugar constituents, amount of water, etc, present.

The phosphate of lime may be obtained in the usual manner from any suitable source, as for instance from apatite or coral rock. $851511 rock is composed of the following Phosphoric acid (P 0 34. 66 Calcium 31. 00 Magnesium 1.00 Potas 1. 00 Sod. 0.3

Iron oxid 5.00 Alum. (clay) 9. 00 Sulf. acid 0.2

Chlor 0.3

Garb. acid 2. 00

Sand, organic substance, and water.

* Equal to Ca; P0).),, 75.67.

Diatomaceous earth is silica in theform of diatoms The action of the phosphate of lime upon the sugar juices is to render and keep them neutral, thereby preventing fermentation and inversion. The action of the diatomaceous earth is to absorb any free u1ces.

After the cut cane has been incorporated with the materials described, the mass can be pressed into packages of any convenient size. Should the mass be soft, it may be dehydrated by passing over it hot air from which the moisture has been extracted. The aclrages are preferably wrapped in para ed paper. They ma be immersed in a warm solution of para 11 to give them a surface coating, but this is not essential.

introduced, will depend in a M Example II: The beet-root is subjected to large measure upon the percentage of sugar the usual action of a cutting machine to divide the beet into cosettes. Any juice escaping in the cutting operation, falls, as in Example 1, into a body of phosphate of lime. I prefer to slice the cosettes.somewhat thinner than is the usual practice. Instead of dividing the-beets into cosettes, they may be ground, in which case I pre fer that the juice separated ingrinding shall fall into a box containing sutlicient of the mixture of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth to absorb the juice, sothat there shall be no free juice. After the cosettes' are made, or the beets ground, the separated mass is introduced into ,a tank, and a body of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth, as also the body of phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth containing the absorbed juice, introduced, and the whole thoroughly mixed. This final body may also'be subjected to a. dehydrating process if too fluid, then pressedand packed for shipment as in Example I.

The packages formed according toExampics I and II, may be shippe long distances and held for a considerable length of time under extreme atmospheric conditions of heat or cold, without separation or inversion of the sugar juice.

After the packages have been received at the factories, they may be treated as follows: The package or packages are intro duced into a blow-up tank and blown up with hot water and steam. The contents of the blowup tank is then driven through a coarse wire filter, to separate-out the woody fiber of the cane, but notto separate out the hosphate of limeorthe diatomaceousearth.

e magma is then pumped tosettlmgtanks, and if necessary-treatedasin sugar refining, after which the juice may be rarefied and conveyedtothe vacuum pans. It be-observed that the phosphateof-lime actto separatethe albuminous bodiescontained in the sugar juices, and that the diatomaceous earth is an efiicient filter. In practice it has been found that sugar treated as described, may be refined Without the addition ofother chemicals, and that it is only necessary, after blowing up and filtering, to and the juice through the charcoal clarifiers before intro ducing it directly into the vacuum pans. The coarse filtrata, e,,.the desiccated cane, can be treated with water and .the sweet waters obtained, subsequently refined. The residual solid matters may be treated to convert the ligneous matter intoash and carbon to form a fertilizer.

In the case of the product obtained from Example II, I prefer to first treat the packages with heated water to soften them, after which the separated-material is introduced into the primary cell of a diffusion battery and the process of separation of the sugar carried on as is usual in a difiusion battery.

After the preliminary heating by hot Water, the material may be filtered to extract as much ,as possible of the diatomaceous earth. In practice, however, I findthat the presence of the phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earthdoes not interfere with the separation of the sugar juice from the beet cells, as carried out in the usual diffusion process, but on the other hand, rather aids in effecting the difiusion by reason of the faetthat these bodies revent agglutination of the mass in the di usion cells, and thus promote more free circulation than can usually be obtained.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The ,process of treating sugar bearing bodies, which consists in dividing said bodies into smaslvllflpieces, introducing phosphate of lime in cient quantity to neutralize ,the normal acids anddiatomaceous earth in suficient quantity to absorbany free juices, and finally mixing and'pressing the mass to .form packa es. f be 2. e process ,0 treating sugar 2. bodies, which consists in comminutin 05 d? vidin the body, introducing ,phosp ate of lime m sufiicient quantity to neutralize the body and diatomaceous earth in sufiicient quantity to absorbany iree juices, dehydrating the mass, and finally mixing and pressing the mass to form packages.

3. The ocess of treating sugar bearing bodies, which consists in separating the sugar bea bodies .-into small particles, introducing su cient phosphate of lime to neutra-lize the normal acidity of the sugar juices, introducing sufiicient diatomaceous .earth to absorb any free juices, dehydrating the mass to remove any excess of water, and finally mixingand pressing the mass to form packa es.

et. A step in the process of treating sugar bearing bodies, wjhich consists in subjectin the comminuted body to the action of as cient amount of phi hate oflime ,to' neutralize the normal acidity of the juices of the sugar bearing bodies.

5. As a. new product, a 'body consisting of comminuted sugar bearing bodies, sugar derived from said bodies, phosphate of lime and diatomaceous earth, all in a dry and solid condition-but soluble and separable under the action of heat, waterand steam.

6. As a new product, a bodyconsisting of comminuted sugar bearing bodies, sugar bearing extracts from said bodies, phosphate of lime in a soluble condition derived from coral rock, and diatomaceous earth.

7. A step in the process of treating comminuted sugar bearing bodies, which consists in subjecting them to the neutralizing action of a soluble phosphate of lime.

The proces of treating sugar bearing bodies, which consists in breaking up such bedies, introducing suflicient phosphate of In testimony whereof, I aflix my signalime to neutralize the normal acidity of the ture, in the resence of two Witnesses.

sugar juices, then introducing an absorbent GEORCEE HILLARD BENJAMIN. body to absorb any free juices and form a Witnesses:

. 5 substantially dry body, and finally mixing HELEN E. KOELSGH,

and pressing the mass to form packages. ELI WEILL.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,140,353, granted May 25, 1915, upon the application of George Hillard Benjamin, of New York, N. Y., the title of the invention wee written and printed Process of Producing Sugar-Bearing Bodies, whereas said title should have been written and printed Process qf Treating Sugar-Beaming Bodies; page 2, line 40, for the word rarefied read clarqfiedi and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of June, A. 1)., 1915.

[snun] J. T. NEWTON,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

